Hand/head held 3D viewers

Hello Group, There are many systems to view 3D images, f.e. with anaglyph glasses, active shutterglasses, passive polarized glasses and other systems. One of

Message 1 of 4
, Sep 1, 2011

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Hello Group,

There are many systems to view 3D images, f.e. with anaglyph glasses, active
shutterglasses, passive polarized glasses and other systems.

One of the most wel known is the old skool View-Master from decades ago, if
you are aged 30+ then there is a good chance that you have experiences
yourself with the plastic viewer and the carton disc holding 7 left and 7
right eye dia positive slides and if so I am sure that you remember how real
and crisp the images could be.

Based on the same method Hasbro released a couple of month ago a viewer for
use with the iPhone on the iPhone are a left and a right eye image displayed
and with good content the experience is just the same and just as crispy as
with the "Master".

On the last PanTools Meeting in Vienna I demonstrated the new Hasbro my3D
viewer with some of my parallel displayed 3D Pano2VR HTmlCss3 panos (moved
by the gyros of the iPhone4) and I got the impression that people liked it a
lot and had no problem viewing the panos.

To get an idea here how it looks here is an example of a 3D side-by-side
pano for display with the Hasbro viewer.
Without the viewer you try on iPhone 4 the moving of the pano with the gyros
and on other devices, desktops included, you can move the left pano with
mouse or finger and then the right pano will follow smoothly.
Btw, with the staring method perhaps you can see the 3D depth without the
viewer.

Yesterday Sony launched a much more advanced system based on the same
method, a slick looking head device with build in display.
I am curious if the Sony head display is just a gimmick or a device that
will be just as popular as the View-Master, I guess time will tell.

... the specifications are a bit obscure but twin 720p OLED is certainly good bang for the buck if it is $800

Message 2 of 4
, Sep 1, 2011

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> Yesterday Sony launched a much more advanced system based on the same
> method, a slick looking head device with build in display.
> I am curious if the Sony head display is just a gimmick or a device that
> will be just as popular as the View-Master, I guess time will tell.
>
> http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press/201108/11-097E/index.html
>
> Wim

>>The design of this device is such that it covers the maximum possible field of vision (approx. 200 degrees), surpassing the video viewing range of 45 degrees. Any information unrelated to viewing is isolated, resulting in a feeling of deep immersion. The supplied light shield (shade plate) can intercept the light from below, which further enhances the feeling of immersion for the viewer.>>

it doesnt mention headtracking which would be what would be ideal for panorama vieiwng with it but that could be an Intersense eg. addon -- but then it would be expensive

There is certainly something very natural about viewing a stereo 360 panorama in a tracked HMD.

I love Viewmaster stereo too. The 3d effect is so strong somehow. A really compact digital version like that would be great. When mobile phones get a bit more hi-res a small phone plus a Hasbro type viewer would be the equivalent.

I had a Viewmaster camera for a while, and the cutter to make the film chips and sets of empty reels and I would make my own reels and it was great.

I made HMD-viewed stereo panoramas for this art piece herehttp://www.icinema.unsw.edu.au/projects/conversations/
.. they had blue screen video characters running about in the tracked HMD view. They had two people each with HMDs in the set up in a museum, in different locations, and they were trying to figure out collaboratively what was going on in the scene they were looking at ( a prisoner escaping from a jail, shooting policeman, getaway car etc). So they were spinning around trying to see stuff. Worked ok but the resolution was pretty crummy.

PeterM

Wim Koornneef

... field of vision (approx. 200 degrees), surpassing the video viewing range of 45 degrees. Any information unrelated to viewing is isolated, resulting in a

Message 3 of 4
, Sep 1, 2011

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panovrx-2 wrote:

> .....I dont know what they mean by:
>>>The design of this device is such that it covers the maximum possible

field of vision (approx. 200 degrees), surpassing the video viewing range of
45 degrees. Any information unrelated to viewing is isolated, resulting in a
feeling of deep immersion. The supplied light shield (shade plate) can
intercept the light from below, which further enhances the feeling of
immersion for the viewer.>>.....
I guess they are telling that a normal human view with a fixed position of
the head and no moving eyes is maximized at 200 degree while a normal view
in front of a TV or cinema is limited to 45 degree.
Possibly the device is light sealed with soft material and also have a mat
black light absorbing finish in the interio that together with the light
shields must prevent that any light, not coming from the displays, will
enter the eyes to make sure that the VR experience is maximized and not
disturbed by ambient light.

....I made HMD-viewed stereo panoramas for this art piece here

> http://www.icinema.unsw.edu.au/projects/conversations/
> .. they had blue screen video characters running about in the tracked HMD
> view. They had two people each with HMDs in the set up in a museum, in
> different locations, and they were trying to figure out collaboratively
> what was going on in the scene they were looking at ( a prisoner escaping
> from a jail, shooting policeman, getaway car etc). So they were spinning
> around trying to see stuff. Worked ok but the resolution was pretty
> crummy.....

That is an impressive projekt with a serious background story...

Sometimes a crummy resolution isn't a deal breaker as you should expect,
last year I displayed some spherical ColorCode 3D panos in the dome shaped
theater of the University of Plymouth and both the resolution and the faded
colors of the projected image was really crummy but nevertheless the
immersive 3D experience was really great, since I want to have such a dome
in my backyard :-)

Hey Wim Thanks for the heads up on Hasbro s and Sony s new 3D viewers. I believe 3D can greatly improve the experience of viewing spherical panoramas;

Message 4 of 4
, Sep 1, 2011

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Hey Wim

Thanks for the "heads up" on Hasbro's and Sony's new 3D viewers. I believe 3D can greatly improve the experience of viewing spherical panoramas; perhaps more so than other media, because the main "message" of most spherical panos is about 3D spatial relationships.

Now that you have shown how any panographer can make good 3D sphericals without any special equipment, the only things standing in the way of a big wave of popularity for this medium are viewing devices, and the marketing clout to make the public aware. Both of which Hasbro and Sony can supply in abundance.

I don't need to tell you that the stereopticon, the grandfather of the ViewMaster, was found in every civilized home from the late 19th thru early 20th centuries, and producing cards for it was a big money maker.

I hope you have already contacted Hasbro about starting a production company for the spherical views of famous/amazing sights, that could be a big hit on the "iViewMaster".

Sony is a harder sell since they are accustomed to think they can and should do everything in-house. But assuming they get this device on the market in some kind of usable form (ideally with gyros), it could become the viewer of choice for serious pano-tourism. There are quite a few other head-mounted stereo display devices, but none produced by a rich company with access to the best technology.

I share your excitement.

Best regards, Tom

--- In PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com, Wim Koornneef <wim.koornneef@...> wrote:
>
> Hello Group,
>
> There are many systems to view 3D images, f.e. with anaglyph glasses, active
> shutterglasses, passive polarized glasses and other systems.
>
> One of the most wel known is the old skool View-Master from decades ago, if
> you are aged 30+ then there is a good chance that you have experiences
> yourself with the plastic viewer and the carton disc holding 7 left and 7
> right eye dia positive slides and if so I am sure that you remember how real
> and crisp the images could be.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/View-Master
>
> Based on the same method Hasbro released a couple of month ago a viewer for
> use with the iPhone on the iPhone are a left and a right eye image displayed
> and with good content the experience is just the same and just as crispy as
> with the "Master".
>
> http://www.hasbro.com/hasbromy3d/en_US/
>
> On the last PanTools Meeting in Vienna I demonstrated the new Hasbro my3D
> viewer with some of my parallel displayed 3D Pano2VR HTmlCss3 panos (moved
> by the gyros of the iPhone4) and I got the impression that people liked it a
> lot and had no problem viewing the panos.
>
> http://www.dmmdh.nl/forum_images/_3_side-by-side_for_iPhone_and_Hasbro_3D_viewer.png
>
> To get an idea here how it looks here is an example of a 3D side-by-side
> pano for display with the Hasbro viewer.
> Without the viewer you try on iPhone 4 the moving of the pano with the gyros
> and on other devices, desktops included, you can move the left pano with
> mouse or finger and then the right pano will follow smoothly.
> Btw, with the staring method perhaps you can see the 3D depth without the
> viewer.
>
> http://www.dmmdh.nl/panos/3D_side_by_side/3D_PTM_2011_side-by-side_960_640px/3D_PTM_2011.html
> Short http://tinyurl.com/3ces4j9
>
> Yesterday Sony launched a much more advanced system based on the same
> method, a slick looking head device with build in display.
> I am curious if the Sony head display is just a gimmick or a device that
> will be just as popular as the View-Master, I guess time will tell.
>
> http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press/201108/11-097E/index.html
>
> Wim
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> View this message in context: http://panotoolsng.586017.n4.nabble.com/Hand-head-held-3D-viewers-tp3783088p3783088.html
> Sent from the PanoToolsNG mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
>

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